The NYPD received a call of shots fired at 95th and Lexington Ave on Wednesday, June 29 at approximately 8:23pm.
Officers arrived to find a 20-year-old female with a gunshot wound to the head across the street from 162 East 95th Street.
EMS transported the victim to an area hospital; she was pronounced deceased at approximately 9:23pm.
The child was not harmed as a result, but was removed to an area hospital for a medical evaluation.
The victim — who has now been identified as Azsia Johnson, an aspiring nurse and mother of two — was pushing a stroller with her 3-month-old baby at the time. While an investigation remains ongoing and no arrests have been made, Johnson’s ex-boyfriend, who is also the father of her 3-month-old, is believed to be the shooter.
Johnson’s mother told several outlets that her ex-boyfriend was abusive, and that multiple domestic violence reports had been filed before the fatal incident.
Mayor Eric Adams and Commissioner Keechant Sewell spoke at a press conference about two hours after the incident. Sewell stated that an “unknown person” had approached the victim and fired a single shot “from a very close range” before fleeing east down 95th Street. The Commissioner described the suspect as a male who was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants.
“Earlier today, the police commissioner and I were with the attorney general talking about ghost guns,” said Mayor Adams. “Later in the day, we were with the US senator, Senator Killibrand, talking about gun trafficking. This entire day, we have been addressing the problem of over-proliferation of guns on our streets, how readily accessible they are, and how there is just no fear in using these guns on innocent New Yorkers. And this is the result of that; these are real stories, real lives. When a mother is pushing a baby carriage down the block, or an individual, a woman is pushing a baby carriage down the block, and is shot at point blank range, it shows just how this national problem is impacting families. It doesn’t matter if you are on the Upper East Side or East New York, Brooklyn.”
